As of today, we have uncovered THOUSANDS of guides on exoplanets (planets revolving around a star other than the sun) since we confirmed the first exoplanet around a pulsar in 1992. Since then, we have discovered planets around other stars in very diverse environments from scorching hot planets to cold-lonely orphaned planets with no parents stars to orbit around. What many people and scientists have more interest in, however, are special exoplanets which happen to be orbiting their parent (or host) star not too far away to freeze but not too close to boil any surface water on the planet.

Not too far but not too close: This is what is called the Habitability Zone. When you hear about “Earth-like” planets, scientists are usually referring to two properties that define it as such: temperature and size. Is this planet receiving enough warmth for its star to have water on its surface? Is this planet more massive than Mars but not as vast as Neptune? If you answer yes to both of these, congratulations! You have yourself a habitable Earth-like planet.

The basic concept underlying this rule-of-thumb seems simple, but reality is not so straight-forward. Keeping that in mind, let’s go and break the misconception that conditions for life can only happen in the habitable zone using one concept – moons.

Technically, in concept we should be talking about exomoons, but as of today, there has not been a confirmed exomoon discovery. However, that shouldn’t deter us because there is an incredible diversity of moons in our own solar system that break the quick-hand rule of habitability zones. You see, habitability zones refer to have having liquid water on its surface, but this idea says nothing about having liquid water underneath the surface. In fact, we have two incredible examples of worlds with liquid water far from the habitability zone, Europa and Enceladus.

Europa is one of the Galilean moons of Jupiter and only slightly smaller and less massive than our own moon, but Europa contains more ocean water than all of the surface water here on Earth! In 2013, the Hubble Space Telescope discovered jets of saltwater shooting into space from cracks on its icy surface. It is believed that there is a vast liquid ocean underneath the icy crust, heated by the ocean floor which itself is heated by the powerful tides caused between its orbit and Jupiter. These tides mechanically heat the unobtrusive ocean by pulling and relaxing the interior of Europa like playdough.These tides also affect the icy crust, causing it to crack open in some places, releasing water like a geyser into space, creating an ocean of warm seawater in an icy moon far away from the Sun.

Enceladus is in a similar geologic position as Europa, except orbiting farther out Saturn and, ironically, more closely studied. What is most exciting about Enceladus is that the Cassini probe analyzed jets of seawater spurting into space and discovered it to be comprised of organic compounds, specifically methane, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen! This is ground-breaking because organic compounds are the building blocks for life and possible signs of its existence as well. They tell us that habitable environments can exist in very different places, outside our own habitable zone. Adding to the diversity of moons in our solar system, there is Jupiter’s moon Io which has hundreds of very active volcanoes, and Jupiter’s moon Ganymede which is larger than Mercury with possibly an underground ocean.

Moons are like little astrophysical laboratories, entities that are also very creative homes for life outside our familiar Earth. It is also very likely that super-massive Jupiter-like exoplanets could have exomoons larger than Mars, or even the Earth itself! Life has a propensity for dramatically adapting to its surroundings with the most extreme cases of environments and biological specimens rightly deserving the title of ‘extremophiles’. When you hear of newly discovered exoplanets, don’t feel hopeless if these otherworldly objects are not considered “habitable”. Given the massive diversity of moons in our own solar system, it shouldn’t be unlikely that there could be even stranger or perhaps more habitable moons conducive to life out there in our universe.

]]>http://www.phoebusonline.com/?feed=rss2&p=16400Cassini – That Little Spacecraft That Dived Into the Lord of the Rings.http://www.phoebusonline.com/?p=1636
http://www.phoebusonline.com/?p=1636#respondSun, 17 Dec 2017 06:03:36 +0000http://www.phoebusonline.com/?p=1636Article by Hinna Shivkumar

Launched from the familiar landscape of Earth into the unknown vastness of space, aiming towards a planet and its companions that could be called a solar system on their own, Cassini is surely a legendary spacecraft. Why legendary, some might ask? Now, this is not some ordinary spacecraft (though, I wouldn’t say any spacecraft is ordinary). Cassini is a very special spacecraft that ended its mission this year, making its Grand Finale one of the highlights of space exploration in 2017. I would like to take you on a journey, like a time-lapse, highlighting some milestones that make Cassini-Huygens mission, a joint venture between NASA, ESA and the Italian Space Agency, special.

Journey Begins with Gravitational AssistsCassini began its journey in 1997 as it was launched from Cape Canaveral aboard a Titan IV/Centaur. In order to pull away from the gravitational pull of the Sun and exit the inner solar system, the spacecraft required sufficient momentum. This momentum was initially provided by two gravitational-assist flybys of Venus, first in 1998 and second in 1999. A third assist was provided by the Earth in 1999, which provided Cassini with a boost in speed that carried it through space to the asteroid belt. In late 1999, Cassini became the seventh ever spacecraft to fly through the seemingly daunting asteroid belt (it is, however, not considered to pose any danger to spacecrafts since the individual asteroids are very far apart). Cassini, while flying through the asteroid belt, also had the opportunity to study this region using the Cosmic Dust Analyzer (CDA) onboard.

In late 2000, Cassini began a six-month flyby of Jupiter. During this valuable time, Cassini captured more than 26,000 images of the Jovian system. Valuable insight into the nature of the moons and rings of Jupiter was provided as Cassini and Galileo, that was already orbiting Jupiter, collectively gathered data.

Before Its ArrivalCassini was already observing Saturn before it became a part of the Saturn system through orbit insertion. From a great distance, it had observed two small (small for the gigantic Saturn) storms into a larger one, discovered two previously unknown moons (Methone and Pallene), and had performed a flyby of Pheobe, a heavily-cratered and irregular moon of Saturn.

Part of the Saturnian System and The Huygens Probe

On July 1st, 2004, Cassini became the first spacecraft to orbit around Saturn. As it orbited the ringed planet over the next several years, Cassini had several opportunities to collect significant images and data. In October, 2004, its close encounter with Titan allowed Cassini to come within 1200 kilometers of this hazy moon’s surface. In late 2004, the Huygens probe detached itself from Cassini and began its journey towards Titan, its destination. During this time, Cassini continued exploring the diverse Saturnian system and came across incredible features such as Iapetus’ equatorial ridge. Cassini was always busy exploring some region of this part of the solar system! One of the most exciting moments of this mission came with the landing of ESA’s Huygens probe on January 13th, 2005. After a 2 hour and 27 minute descent, the probe touched down on the surface of Titan making it the first to land on a world in the outer solar system. During the descent, images captured by the probe provided incredible views of the geology of this moon. Since it was powered by batteries, the probe survived for only an additional 72 minutes on the surface.

Enceladus and Its Icy JetsEnceladus, the icy moon of Saturn, amazed scientists to no extent. First, the magnetometer onboard Cassini discovered something strange about this moon’s interaction with Saturn’s magnetic field. Due to this, scientists decided that they would plan a return to investigate further. At its return to the south polar region of Enceladus, Cassini discovered an almost smooth surface here. However, it was the detection of huge clouds of water vapor that extended out into space that caught the attention of the scientists. In 2006, scientists detected evidence that these jets were not blown off the surface of the moon but rather were erupting from subsurface water reservoirs.

Approaching End of Primary Mission and Investigating EnceladusOver the next months, Cassini discovered lakes on Titan, imaged new rings, located the origin of the jets from Enceladus to the now famous “tiger stripes” and collected samples from this plume and detected organic molecules in the “brew” to name a few highlights.

After the end of its Primary Mission in 2008, just four years around this ringed planet, Cassini had already gathered vast amounts of knowledge but raised even more questions about the Saturnian system and its members. It continued investigating Enceladus, discovered geologically active regions, performed the closest flyby of this moon (just 25 kilometers from the surface!) and collected more samples from the jets. The presence of salt and ammonia in these acquired samples made the evidence of the existence of liquid water even stronger. The levels of salt, for example, indicated that only the presence of liquid water could explain such high concentrations.

Mission Extended to 2017On February 2nd, 2010, it was announced that the Cassini-Huygens mission will be extended till 2017. This would not only allow Cassini to explore the Saturnian system in more detail, but also allow Cassini to experience seasonal changes while in orbit. Cassini went on to explore the ionosphere (upper layer of atmosphere) of Titan, image moons such as Rhea (where molecules of oxygen were detected in its rather thin atmosphere) and Mimas, detect a gigantic storm 15,000 kilometers long on Saturn consume its own tail in a timespan of over a year, and image the well-known hexagonal storm around Saturn’s north pole.

The Grand FinaleAfter 13 years of orbiting Saturn and performing hundreds of flybys of several moons during this time, Cassini finally approached the first of its final 22 orbits through the gap between the rings and the planet on April 26th, 2017. These daring dives made Cassini explore the surprisingly dust-free gap that raised more questions for the scientists.

A month less than 20 years in space, on September 15th, 2017, Cassini made the final dive into the atmosphere of Saturn in order to protect the very moons it had explored from a distance. Titan and Enceladus became very important parts of the mission with the surprising and stunning discoveries made by this spacecraft. To keep these moons uncontaminated, scientists decided that the final plunge was necessary and was the best available option before the spacecraft ran out of fuel, used to adjust its trajectory, and potentially crash into some part of the Saturnian system.

LegacyCassini leaves behind numerous records but what truly makes it special is the way it painted a picture of Saturn and its moons by revealing striking images and data, potential future missions and another set of questions that will take years to answer but also advance planetary science. Above are just some highlights of the mission so we can only imagine how much data there is to process. Cassini aimed for Saturn but has paved the way for potential specific missions to moons such as Enceladus, the most promising target for a future mission in this system.

The popularity of electric power is on the rise. Fossil-fueled cars and home-heating are all going to, soon enough, change to electric power, in hopes to combat climate change. Now the problem with electric power is that it’s part of a one-or-the-other dilemma. You can either have a battery, which stores a ton of power but takes ages to charge up, or you can have a capacitor, which charges relatively quickly but – traditionally – can only store a very small amount of power. In an electric-powered future, we will need to store and release large amounts of electric power relatively quickly.

Unlike batteries, which utilize chemistry to generate electrical energy, capacitors use static electricity in order to store energy. Inside a capacitor, there are two conducting metal plates with an insulating material called a dielectric in between them. A dielectric is simply an electrical insulator. Positive and negative charges build up on the plates as it is connected to a sort of power source, and the insulator between them prevents the flow of charges. This allows the capacitor to store energy.

Now, the main advantage that capacitors have over batteries is that they are a lot faster when building up stored energy. However, they are also at a disadvantage because their technical design doesn’t let them get anywhere near the amount of energy that batteries can store. As mentioned earlier, in an electric-powered future, we will need to store and release large amounts of electric power relatively quickly. But how, you ask? Reader, meet the supercapacitor.

Its plates are substantially larger than those of the average capacitor, allowing it to carry a lot more electric charge.

The separation between its plates is a lot smaller, which means that the molecules between the two plates have a much smaller level of interference with the charges stored in the two plates.

In a supercapacitor, there is no real conventional dielectric. Instead, both the plates are dipped in electrolytes, and then separated by a dielectric that is extremely thin, even as thin as simply one molecule thick.

The capacitance of a capacitor increases as the area of the plates increases and as the distance between the plates decreases. Since both factors here are being manipulated to increase capacitance, the electric output of energy increases by substantial amounts.

Typical capacitors only rate their capacitance in units of microfarads (millionths of the unit Farad, from British physicist Michael Faraday). Supercapacitors have can have units in kilofarads, millifarads and even Farads. This means that their electrical energy output is comparatively huge; huge enough for some to even speculate their potential as a replacement for batteries. While batteries have a higher energy density (i.e: they carry more energy per unit mass), capacitors have a higher power density (i.e: they release more energy more quickly).

At this point you might be thinking that supercapacitors are this super advanced piece of technology that are very rare and hard to use, but that is actually not the case! There are several uses for supercapacitors, some of which you may see every day. One common application is in wind turbines, where very large supercapacitors help to smooth out the intermittent power supplied by the wind. In electric and hybrid vehicles, supercapacitors are increasingly being used as temporary energy stores for regenerative braking (where the energy a vehicle would normally waste when it comes to a stop is briefly stored and then reused when it starts moving again). The motors that drive electric vehicles run off power supplies rated in the hundreds of volts, which means hundreds of supercapacitors connected in series are needed to store the right amount of energy in a typical regenerative brake. With these applications of supercapacitors becoming more and more common, and as our understanding of them becomes more and more detailed, we can bet that they might come to be an important element in creating an electric-powered world.

]]>http://www.phoebusonline.com/?feed=rss2&p=16320Space Exploration – What has it got to do with us?http://www.phoebusonline.com/?p=1625
http://www.phoebusonline.com/?p=1625#respondSun, 17 Dec 2017 05:41:40 +0000http://www.phoebusonline.com/?p=1625Article by Hinna Shivkumar

“How do we benefit from space exploration in day-to-day life?
Why is it worth spending millions and billions on it?
Where do I see it being useful in my day-to-day life?”

Such questions are often brought up in conversations regarding space exploration. Space sciences and space exploration may seem like areas of research that do not affect us directly back on Earth but, in reality, it is surprising to see the many “spinoffs” (as NASA likes to call the resulting benefits) these fields provide us with back on Earth.

Communication
One significant application is how space exploration has changed the way we communicate. It was in fact the rise of space exploration that provided the possibility of expanding communication networks to a global scale.

The first satellites were designed to mainly explore low Earth orbit and study the vacuum of space. While the data received from these initial missions were focused mainly on space sciences and exploration, they also conveniently developed the knowledge and technology needed for what is needed for our modern devices to communicate with each other.

Satellites are used to amplify radio signals from the ground and relay them back to a second station on the ground. Remote regions, such as oil rigs, require the use of satellite phones as a means of communication. In addition to that, the Global Positioning System (GPS) is made possible through networks of satellites. Overall, by forming networks of satellites in orbit, quick and efficient transfer of information is now provided to the global population.

Weather and Natural Disasters
Another consequence of the development of the first satellites is the rise of better weather forecasting satellites that are able to predict weather changes and patterns. These satellites have been designed to study the weather, atmosphere, ice sheets, forests and several features on Earth. This is important since tracking weather patterns and natural disasters helps meteorologists on Earth take the necessary precautions that ultimately help save natural resources, man-made constructions and in more dire cases, even lives. In addition to tracking extreme weather, these satellites provide important information related to weather changes to sailors and pilots that allows them to change their trajectory as needed. As technology used on these satellites is improved, they will become more accurate in providing such significant information in these uses.

From the International Space Station (ISS)
Many significant benefits of space exploration come from the International Space Station.

The International Space Station is essentially a laboratory housing hundreds of experiments related to several fields of research. For example, biological experiments have lead to advancements that can help with medical help on Earth currently and in the near future. A few examples are worth mentioning since they capture the essence of the research done aboard the ISS.

One of these examples is the Advanced Diagnostic Ultrasound in Microgravity (ADUM) experiment. This experiment is being developed to give rise to faster and remotely-guided ultrasound technology. Another experiment on the ISS, the Eye Tracking Device, provides data that is helping surgeons perform laser eye surgery even more precisely. By studying the data from this experiment, scientists are facilitating surgery by helping track the eye of the patient, making the surgery easier to perform.

Another example comes from the famous Canadarm and Canadarm2 by the Canadian Space Agency that gave important insights into the development of the neuroArm. These developments proved to be capable of performing delicate surgeries that are otherwise said to be inoperable, such as certain brain tumors. It is also worth mentioning one of the most well-known studies conducted on the ISS – bone and muscle loss. The study of osteoporosis has lead to the development of potential treatments for the same.

Videos and images of astronauts playing with water globules are quite famous online but studying the science of dynamics of water and other fluids has lead to a new medical testing device. This device can possibly improve diagnosis of HIV/AIDS through analysis of capillary flow in space.

Another example of one of the most famous experiments performed on the ISS is growing lettuce on the station. However, this also eventually lead to possible solutions for mold prevention. When scientists noticed that ethylene was destroying plants within growth chambers, the ADVASC (Advanced Astroculture) was developed to remove this naturallyoccurring plant hormone, viruses, bacteria and mold. Back on Earth, this system can be used for air purification, in wine cellars and in grocery stores.

From Laboratories on Earth
Research done on Earth to improve space exploration has also provided benefits to the global population. One example is the development of FINDER (Finding Individuals for Disaster and Emergency Response) by using the expertise of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in radar. FINDER is able to isolate the weak signal of human heartbeat and breathing from other noisy signals. Whether the person underneath the rubble is conscious or not, the device is sensitive enough to detect their presence. FINDER also has the potential to be further developed for other uses and applications.

Motivation and Collaborations
For the younger generation, space exploration inspires and motivates these future explorers. For nations, collaborations between space agencies brings them together and creates opportunities to address and solve global problems such as climate change, natural disasters, and potential asteroid strikes. When several agencies collaborate, such as for the ISS, a sense of cosmic citizenship is remarkably felt.

The International Space Station is a collaboration between many nations

Space exploration is driven by the inherent curiosity of the human mind. This curiosity has lead to countless benefits to life on Earth, be it technological, economical or innovational. The essence of adventure that comes with space exploration has made the world come together to watch the first men walk on the Moon, rovers land on Mars, rockets landing to be reused and a satellite crashing into the ringed planet. The beauty of it all attracts many but the benefits of it help all.

“Monday is yellow; Tuesday is quite a deep red; Wednesday is sort of a grass green; Thursday is a much darker green but still quite bright; Friday has always confused me, it’s either a very dark purple, blue or grey; Saturday is white; and Sunday is sort of a light peach color. For anyone who doesn’t understand what’s happening here, I have a neurological condition called synesthesia, which means that I ‘see’ words in colors.”

–Stephanie Carswell (Australian actress)

Synesthesia is one of the most astounding phenomena in the world of psychology and has long been a study of interest for philosophers and scientists. While “seeing words in color” may seem like a bizarre concept to many, it is very artistic in its essence and is an uncanny ability that many talented musicians, artists and even scientists exhibit. Alessia Cara, Duke Ellington, and Sam Endicott are just a few well-known synesthetes. Simply put, synesthesia is the anomaly where the stimulation of one sense produces the sensation of another: For example, listening to a sound that vividly brings a color or array of colors to mind. My goal here is to take a closer look at synesthesia and the implications it brings to the world of art, cognition, and the evolution of the brain.

Synesthesia, derived from the Greek “syn” to mean “union” and “aesthesis” to mean sensation, has been put under a magnifying glass under philosophers, dating back to Greek antiquity and has taken on a huge role in the study of neuroscience in modernity. [2] While all humans can be thought to have some minor forms or levels of synesthesia, the much stronger cross-modal condition can apparently be found in around 1 in 23 people, constituting about 4.4% of the population. [3] This prevalence makes synesthesia an excellent anomaly for study in the realm of psychology. Synesthesia on this level is generally characterized by a vivid trigger or association of one sense brought on by the experience of a physical sense.

Dr. Vilayanur Ramachandran took it upon himself to investigate more minor forms of synesthesia, showing a random set of people on a beach in California a shape with many sharp edges and another, much more curvy shape, asking them “Which [shape] is a bouba and which one is a kiki?” [4] These, of course, are just nonsense words, but the general public, save for a few exceptions, seemed to agree that the curvier shape was a bouba and the sharper shape was a ki-ki. Dr. Ramachandran suggested that the way the words are pronounced – bouba being softer and rolling off the tongue easier than kiki, which is much harsher to say – correlates to the way someone perceives the shape, suggesting an inherent, nonarbitrary bias. Dr. Ramachandran goes on to say that this association can possibly be attributed to some bridging or adjacent placement between the motor areas for the hands and the mouth in the brain coupled with unconscious associations made between hand and mouth movements.

Figure 1: “A” would be a kiki and “B” would be a bouba respectively. [5]

There are currently 54 known types of synesthesia that can be organized into five distinguishable categories. [6,7] Firstly, and the most common by far, is grapheme-color synesthesia. This is the association of colors with letters or numbers. Richard Cytowic, an American neurologist, has referenced this form of synesthesia in his book, “Wednesday Is Indigo Blue: Discovering the Brain of Synesthesia” where he shares the anecdote of a woman, Jean Milogav, who told her niece to choose “anything but Paul” as the name if she were to have a baby boy, because of how “gray and ugly” it is. [8] Then there is lexical-gustatory synesthesia, which is the association of flavors with sounds or words. Number form synesthesia is the three-dimensional visualization of numbers. There is research present that suggests that there is some underlying mechanism between synesthesia and the autism spectrum (the research is self-referenced as non-definitive, so take this with a grain of salt). [10] There is a known autistic savant by the name of Daniel Tammet, who makes connections between numbers and the goings-on in his daily life, on a level beyond what most people can conjure. [11] Tammet’s abilities were most noted in 2004, when he was able to recite the first 22,514 digits of pi, seemingly by the numbers just making themselves shown in his head. [12]

Figure 2: The 54 types of synesthesia. [6,7]

Then there is ordinal linguistic personification synesthesia, which is the connection between letters, numbers or days of the week and certain personality traits or emotions. For example, “Saturday” in a given month may seem gloomy or despondent or “Wednesday” may seem to exhibit a bouncy, happy-go-lucky aura. Finally, there is sound-color synesthesia, or the association between musical notes and colors. Isaac Newton, 17th-century physicist, toyed around with the idea of “colored hearing” and tried to tie threads between tones in music and tones of color. [13] There is a synesthete, Melissa McCracken, who has garnered some notoriety for constructing paintings out of the mental images she sees when listening to certain songs. [14,15]

Figure 3: Melissa McCracken’s painting of what she sees when listening to “Callow” by Airhead. [14]

The world of synesthesia leaves plenty to be learned of and discovered. The condition itself is rooted in the notion of making connections and associations. There is word being tossed around about the implications of learned synesthesia and the pursuance of it, and this in itself holds an abundance of questions and thought experiments to be explored: Can vivid synesthesia be learned? Does the presence of synesthesia say anything about the ability to classically condition someone – that is, to associate a desired stimulus with a null stimulus? What notable changes occur in the brain if someone were to acquire synesthesia? What changes are there already present in the neuroanatomy of someone with synesthesia? Is synesthesia different based on upbringing or the culture you grew up with? After all, a bouba to some people may be associated with the more jagged shape than the curvier shape for different reasons. What can synesthesia say about the unacknowledged biases that we have within us? Can the use of certain hallucinogenics induce or affect synesthesia? Perhaps we will explore these questions in a deeper context at a later time.

Synesthesia holds an infinite realm of possibilities and associations that can be made between seemingly anything that can affect the human experience. The condition is a testament to the unending ways the psyche proves to be one of the most astounding products birthed from the known universe, and it seems that the studies concerning synesthesia and its implications for a variety of different facets in day-to-day art, science, and discovery have only just begun.

]]>http://www.phoebusonline.com/?feed=rss2&p=16190Rise of the Phoebushttp://www.phoebusonline.com/?p=1608
http://www.phoebusonline.com/?p=1608#respondThu, 05 Oct 2017 04:30:44 +0000http://www.phoebusonline.com/?p=1608It has been over 7 years since Phoebus Online began, starting off as a humble blog for and by the students of Rohan Roberts. Over these years, Phoebus has stood for the freedom of thought and expression, a hub for knowledge. Phoebus has been a place for students to be free to share their opinions, their beliefs, their art and at the forefront of it all their ideas.

The values that Phoebus Online were built upon are timeless, and mean more to the world now than ever before. As organised education continues to promote the boxing in of children, and as news media and social media become more and more integrated, a home for the youth to share their inner thoughts and ideas is a necessity. A place free of judgement and fake news, with no corporate or political interests or bias to control what is put up. Phoebus Online remains this home, however as time goes on, change is necessary.

Today, we usher in a new era for Phoebus Online. With this piece, I gladly announce the return of Phoebus Online as an extension of Awecademy, and hope to introduce you all to myself and to the future of this website. My name is Muraad Ahmad, and I will be the editor-in-chief of Phoebus Online going forward. My hopes are for Phoebus to continue to be a home for free thought, free expression. I see Phoebus Online as the ground upon which the youth can learn how to share their minds, how to change their minds and how to free their minds. A battleground against apathy, the launch-pad for the future.

I want to have made it clear from the start, that while I support freedom of expression, I do not believe that all ideas are inherently good ideas and should be shared. Phoebus Online will not advocate censoring unorthodox ideas, and I believe the best way to shut down an idea you disagree with is to debate it. What will not be permitted on this website however are toxic or harmful ideas; ideas that promote hate, ideas that promote pseudo-science, ideas that do not have evidence to support them.

What you can expect from myself and the Phoebus Online team over the next few months includes more frequent posting as we begin to assemble more and more writers. We are also working on a major graphical redesign for the website, to match more with the themes of Awecademy. I will be putting up a weekly editorial to update all of you as to the progress of both Phoebus Online and Awecademy.

In literature, Phoebus is used to refer to the sun god Apollo, and it is used to personify the sun. It is a symbol of enlightenment and of power, and so we shall always strive to keep this platform enlightening and empowering.

The sky’s magnificence was emblazoned onto the lacquer lake, while colour-flecked fish were plunking in the beauteous boundaries, as if to embrace the sky. The shimmering body of life was coveted behind an empire of trees adorned with an orchestra of flamboyant birds. A pier extended itself into the lake, upon which a happy family delved into the Zen- a man, a woman and their toddler baby girl. That was my family.
We went out to the bayou every once in a while. In one of those myriad of memories, I saw my husband as clearly as the hyaline lake with a smile so broad it seemed to reach his ears. Little Samara clung to his neck, with the same hair and eyes as him, glistening in those slivers of light. The honeysuckle’s sweetness spread to fill the air, as the wind gently sighed, while an aura cast by the sheer joy had our hearts dancing to the melodies of love. As we set up our miniature picnic, with the cliché basket filled to the brim with Samara’s favourite sandwiches, we took a picture together. The three of us…
I am not blessed with his presence any longer. He was stolen from me by the mechanical failings of a human and his vehicle a year back. The picture lay in my palms, as the warmth of tears embraced my cheeks. I sat at my desk, staring into the vivacity, hoping he had found peace. I then looked up, to a framed photo of our daughter- my one reason to keep living. My place of refuge? It would most definitely be that memory- alive yet dead, real but surreal, love with sorrow.

Interstellar, the long awaited movie! I let out a sigh of relief with the notion that I wouldn’t need to attend chemistry class later! I’ll be honest; my knowledge of the movie was rather limited up until a field trip to watch it came along. The pre-movie trailers alleviated the tension amongst our exorbitantly large Astronomy Club group; I had no idea what I was in for, neither did the rest who watched it with me. My ideal field trip was just grabbing a few bites and sitting down for three agonizing hours just to watch another “space” movie with people all afloat.

So there we were sitting down comfortably right at the centre of the centre in the IMAX theatre as the blaring sound system vibrates through the seats slowly deafening my ears after every advertisement. In temptation of not finishing the popcorn before the movie even started, I adjusted myself onto the impeccable folding seat; I mentally prepared myself to face the sensational 4D action cinema as I ardently awaited the adrenaline rush. Where’s the fun if your food would be spilling all over the place- big waste!

I look above to the lights over head us gradually dimming. “The movie is starting!” I whispered to Karl sitting to my left with my head maliciously thinking- ‘great no more ads!’ 12:05, I looked at the time on my iPhone making sure to turn it on silent. I can’t remember how many times I’ve ruined a scene at a theatre with my ringtones despite the cinema etiquettes they showcase before every film.

The film’s exposition builds up. I was waiting for a rising action within the hour, however I was forgetting the three hour duration of this movie. Moreover, the plot seemed very intriguing so the story still had me hooked. I felt slightly confused of how they drove through incredibly tall stalks of corn even with a flat tire which apparently still deemed feasible. Murphy’s Law- “Anything that can happen will happen.” It is the first time I’ve heard of it though, which sparked an interest in me. In a society as complex and well construed as today, who wouldn’t be pressured into entering a world of endless possibilities with every door of undefined opportunity left wide open. In the story, this was the case of opportunity for Matthew McConaughey’s character- Cooper; his dilemma of obligation to his family and the planet was put at stake. At that moment, I was simply torn emotionally of how despite Murph’s desperate measures to refrain Cooper from leaving. It was, for me, heart breaking. But then again, if Cooper chose to stay then we would have no story.

I would have to admit that young Murphy (Mackenzie Foy of the Conjuring and Twilight: Breaking Dawn) had portrayed the character impressively yet again giving such in depth meaning and emotion to Murphy’s character. It was an extreme roller coaster of emotions where you will be in serious thought as the story progresses with a sudden humour hinted here and there as you end up in unstoppable tears! Just, WOW! Not to mention the untimely explosions where the IMAX theatre caused everyone in their seats to almost jump out plus Karl’s unexpected and tenacious grip on my hand! Unsure of where to react from the explosion or his grip, my heart pounded as if I could nearly hear it beating out of my chest. Instantaneously, I just figured that I should’ve probably brought my inhaler in such cases- I was that unprepared!

The ticket pricing pierced my wallet; nevertheless, the story pierced my mind and heart. The movie was definitely worth the three continuous hours on that seat. Forget toilet breaks! You would miss out on a lot if you glance away even for a millisecond. Preciousness of time is showcased by watching this film as well as the time difference between the Earth and another universe away since it is beyond a three-dimensional or a five-dimensional world!

I prefer to remember her as fiery, defiant and passionate. That’s how I tell her story, I tell them about the fire that crackled in her eyes, and the crinkles of concentration of her face when she wrote in her convoluted little black notebook; I tell them about her quiet voice and her and swift fingers. I never tell them the truth.

“Max, you need to walk quicker than that”, a grunting Agnes commands me. My sister, two and three-fourths of a year younger than me. “You are definitely not one to comment on my physical abilities Agnes, you can’t even walk up the stairs without fainting…” I’m cocky that way, all retorts and back-lashes. I notice her shirt clinging to her back, she is sweating profusely, even more so than me. Wiping her palms, she tucks the infamous dark notebook under her arms. “What do you have in that notebook anyways?” I had apparently found this mountain hike as an appropriate time for an enlightening sibling bonding conversation. Another grunt, she quickens her pace…transitioning from a miserable trudge to a slow paced walk. “Can I at least have the privilege of knowing why I have been dragged out of bed and been deprived of my customary sleeping – “, “It’s two in the afternoon.” Agnes rudely interrupts. My legs ache and the sun is penetrating my stamina, I am ready to snap at Agnes, when she halts to a stop. She has led me to a cave. I lift my head; and I am utterly confused.

A papyrus-esque fabric covers most of the ground, papers are strewn all over…with ragged jabs of rocks haphazardly placed on them to prevent them from blowing away in the harsh wind. Lined against the moist, mold-ridden wall of the cave stands a wooden table, with a variety of different colored pieces of wood for legs; one of which suspiciously looks like the leg of my desk that went “missing” two months ago. Peculiar equipment is covering every inch of the crooked table, beakers with luminescent liquids, chunks of charcoal, a test tube containing what strikes an eerie resemblance to blood, dusty binoculars and a wad of fifty dollar notes tucked under a hefty book.

Agnes further advances in the cave, skillfully avoiding harm to the papers on floor; it seems as if the activity is engraved across her mind. A tiny mattress comes into view, equipped with a lanky pillow and the sheets our mother had thrown out. She flops down on it and looks up to me for the first time since this ordeal; “What? Why do you look so surprised?” I know she’s pretending to be nonchalant about this. I look deep into her eyes right then, “Is this where you’ve been going, this is why you’re never home early for dinner?” I have a thousand more questions, but something in her eyes stops me, she is afraid. And she is cautious. “Why are you showing me this now?” I ask her; incredulously. “Max, I’m alone,” That’s it; those three words spin my heart around. I go back to her first day of school, her holding my hand tightly, me carrying her lunchbox for her. I go back to the day she fell of the tree in our backyard, she got three stitches, and I cried the whole time. And finally, I go back to the day when an eight year old Agnes sprinted out of the room crying, the room in which our parents whispered to me that they found Agnes on the street, that Agnes wasn’t their biological child. She had been on a vigorous search since that day, a search for her real parents. And she found them.

“I’ve been trying to find out what happened to my parents…” she snaps me back to reality. My tone melts, “Agnes, you have parents.” She sighs and the sorrow is now radiating from her. “Look, Max, ever since the day I found out, I’ve lost my identity, I don’t…I don’t know myself anymore. I need to know why I was found wailing on the street in a cradle, I need to know what circumstances could possibly lead to an abandoned new born on the sidewalk!” she is shaking uncontrollably now and I pull her into an embrace. We are both silent, Agnes’ quiet sobs form a cacophonous echo in the cave. “Have you found anything?” I probe her.

She is idle now; her face devoid of emotion. She slips out of my embrace and walks over to a pile of papers huddled up in a discrete crook of the cave. Bending down, she retrieves a group of papers.

“They died in a nuclear blast, Max”, she says it so softly it barely comes out as a whisper. “They were physicists; they died because of someone else!” This time there are no tears, I try to talk to her, I try to help her, “Agnes, I’m so sorry”, her face is stoned. She strides out of the cave, this time making no effort to pay attention to the paper-strewn floor. “Mom will be wondering where we are; let’s go”. It was in the way she was avoiding eye-contact on the way back, the way she tried to stay out of close proximity to me upon returning home; I should’ve doubted her, I should’ve been suspicious. But I wasn’t, instead I decided to brush it off, I decided to give her some space.

I had gone to her room to call her for breakfast, the room was surprisingly chilly; the curtains softly billowing behind an open window; she was gone and it was my fault. The news came exactly sixteen hours after her disappearance the very same night, they called on the landline, and my mom was the one who received the call. The house became silent, and we heard the clang of the phone as it slid from my mom’s numb hands. Her body had been found under heavy machinery in a nuclear plant. She had gotten stuck and it had tumbled down on her.

A week later I was sitting on her bed, thinking about her parents. They must have had round, intelligent eyes and frizzy brown hair, just like Agnes. I imagined a bubbly Agnes coming back from school to a pair of loving scientists. I imagined her real dad pushing her on the swing. Then, I imagined Agnes crying in that cave, I imagined her wails beings thrown back at her by the cave walls, and I could almost hear them now.

11 years have passed since Agnes left me. I went to the cave just once after her death; and it was to collect her things; fragmented pieces of Agnes we could still hold on to. I am now 28, and Agnes is still two and three quarters of a year younger than me. She is still there; in my fondest memories. I see her in a cave, I see her on the swings, and I see her every single time I come across a crooked little black notebook.

“There are only two worlds – your world, which is the real world, and other worlds, the fantasy. Worlds like this are worlds of the human imagination: their reality, or lack of reality, is not important. What is important is that they are there. These worlds provide an alternative. Provide an escape. Provide a threat. Provide a dream, and power; provide refuge, and pain. They give your world meaning. They do not exist; and thus they are all that matters. ” ― Neil Gaiman, The Books of Magic.

Verkoyansk; Siberia, Russia.

The magnificent, luminous rays of sunlight assaulted his eyes, as he reluctantly arose from his sleep, to bask in the warmth of the fresh summer.

“Get up! The wolves are here!”was all Nikolai could comprehend in the violent commotion that ensued, as he lethargically came to his senses.

He could see the faint silhouette of Vladimir grabbing his revolver and hastily firing a few inaccurate shots in panic, as his eyes slowly adjusted to the minimal ambient light in the Siberian desert.

The rush of adrenaline overcame his senses, and Nikolai un-holstered his own 9 mm Makarov and rapidly squeezed the trigger over and over with his frost-bitten fingers, blind firing aimlessly in the direction of the bloodthirsty creatures.

Vladimir ran, as the last shell casing in the chamber of the revolver hit the ground, hoping to outrun the vile creatures. Alas, it was a futile effort, as his horrifying screams chilled Nikolai’s blood as he helplessly watched the hungry animals devour the mutilated body of his comrade. The beasts ripped his corpse to shreds with their sharp canines, remorseless, as the last vestige of life departed the unrecognizable carcass of Lieutenant colonel Vladimir Markhov.

The wolves finished off the last remnants of the corpse and their blood stained countenances were now facing Nikolai, as they crept forward stealthily.

It was a miracle. All the years of training, firing 20 pound rifles in the blistering cold back at boot camp, came back to him when it was a necessity. With expert precision, he took out the bloodthirsty creatures one after the other, fueled by the anger and the thirst for vendetta of his dead comrade.

Nikolai was sweating, despite the sub-zero temperature. It was sweat filled with remorse and intense anger, as he dropped to his knees beside the mutilated body of his dead comrade. A twenty year old friendship, defending each other in the harshest wars in history, now buried in the icy Siberian wilderness.

The reality is harsh. There was no luminous sunlight, No warm summer to bask in. The comfort of his summer house in California and the sweet smile of his wife were just a thought to reminisce upon. There was just the icy, heartless frigidity in the middle of the Siberian desert, thousands of miles away from the most rural civilization. An indiscriminate wasteland, bestowing the morbid cold upon a lost soul, regardless of whether they are rich or poor, king or peasant. It had been 4 days since the missile train had been derailed on its journey to Krasnojarsk. Nikolai and his dead comrade were the sole survivors of the accident.

He recalled the fateful day that Major General Borisov gave him and Vladimir the responsibility of escorting the train and its , volatile cargo to its destination, along with ten other young new recruits whom they were to supervise as old experienced veterans. Despite having retired, veterans of the red army never turn down a chance to serve their motherland. The salvaged supplies from the wreck were running out and the gangrene on his right foot was getting worse. Nikolai had no regrets. If he was to die, he would die an honorable death, serving his country.

The days passed, slowly, ensuring that Nikolai felt every bit of his suffering, letting it seep into his soul. He had rations to last another two days at most. As each day went by, Nikolai gave up on his dream of going back to his family and began to accept life as it came. They say that one values their life the most when they’re about to lose it. Nikolai began to cherish the mere memories he had, of the people he loved. The thought brought him joy, despite the abominable circumstances. He whiled away the hours through introspection, analyzing his own life, his character, his entire existence. “What is my life worth? Do I have a purpose? Was this the way I was fated to die?” These are unanswered questions posed to every human being on the planet.

Nikolai was dying slowly. Malnourishment and the deadly gangrene in his foot proved to be fatally pestilent. He cherished every minute he possessed, as any one of them could be his last. “There is more to life than comfort…” He thought to himself. “Maybe this is what was fated for me. This is how I am meant to die. This is my purpose. I have served my country selflessly and I have no regrets. I have lived my life to the fullest. What more can I ask for?

The true purpose of one’s existence is indefinite, but one thing is for certain. Every human given the gift of life, must live every moment to the fullest. That way, when you die, you have no regrets.”

Even a hardened veteran of the Red army can be philosophical in dire times.

Nikolai no longer had the energy to move. He lay in the ice, his body almost entirely frost-bitten and the gangrene now consumed his entire leg. He was on the verge of death, yet his mind was at peace, now remorseless. He had let go of the burden of craving material comforts and human relationships. We all live and we all die. What matters is whether we have justified our existence on this planet and made a difference, big or small. Nikolai believed he had lived an honorable life, a life of service and pride.

With the last remnants of energy he possessed, he shut his eyes and recollected the most cherished moments in his life, in retrospection, and with that, he left the rest of his life up to fate, and embraced his destiny.